Anti-Depressant 'Magic' in the Mushrooms? (Fox News)

Clinical evidence of activity with extract

A potentially psychoactive ingredient in "magic mushrooms" affected brain activity associated with depression, as reported by Fox News and LiveScience.

In a study of 20 patients with treatment-resistant depression, brain scans obtained before and after ingestion of the mushroom extract psilocybin showed increased blood flow to the amygdala and increased activity in the default-mode network, a neural system connecting brain regions. Electroconvulsive therapy for depression affects the same network.

"Based on what we know from various brain-imaging studies with psychedelics, as well as taking heed of what people say about their experiences, it may be that psychedelics do indeed 'reset' the brain networks associated with depression, effectively enabling them to be lifted from the depressed state," Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, of Imperial College London, said in a statement.

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